Question about teeth

GlasweJen

I had a playground accident when I was 8 and chipped a good chunk off my front tooth (about a third of the tooth was completely gone). When I was 11 they did some work to the tooth and put a crown on it. I was told at the time that they would replace this when I was 18.

I'm now 24 with the same crown and I asked my dentist yesterday about the tooth because I've noticed that you can see sort of black patches through the crown and I'm worried that the actual tooth underneath might need some treatment. Now I can't remember much about what the dentist did when he fitted the crown but I'm fairly sure that the tooth still has its nerve intact, I don't think I've ever had root canal treatment.

The new dentist (this is a different practice btw, the dentist who did the original work retired years ago and sold up, we moved because we didn't like the person who took it over) said that the tooth underneath can't possibly need any work and that if I wanted the crown replaced I would need to find a cosmetic dental specialist to do it because there's a risk that I could lose the entire tooth.

Is it worthwhile finding a cosmetic dentist and getting them to look at it?

welshdent

Its hard to say because we can not see you or your notes. If you DO want a second opinion though I wouldnt look for a "cosmetic" dentist. I would find a good ethical one that will treat according to need. You run the risk of being recommended un necessary work if you see someone that is purely cosmetic in approach. If you do indeed have a crown then its possible the black bits may be the metal underneath that its built on. In a healthy tooth that has a crown made there is about a 20% risk of the nerve dying off due to the trauma of it all. It may be amenable to root filling if that occurs but it depends on the individual case.